2011 Three Minute Thesis Competition

Can you explain the importance of your research in just three minutes?

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) is a competition for postgraduate research students to present their research topic to an intelligent, non-specialist audience in an engaging way. You will have just three minutes to present a compelling presentation on your thesis topic and its significance.

3MT is a great way to practice explaining your research to people who are not familiar with your field, meet other students from across the University and hear about their research - and most importantly, have fun!

You never know, you could be representing the University in the 3MT final at the University of Western Australia (UWA).

The heats and finals took place on Wednesday 7 September 2011. Presentations from the finals will be made available here shortly.

Preparation

• RMIT has some comprehensive information and tips for preparing your 3MT presentation.
• For tips and to see past presentations visit youtube.com.
• The Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources recently held a faculty based 3MT competition and some of the presentations are provided below.

Adrienna Ryan's presentation

Deviga Vengedasalam's presentation

Prizes

• The competition winner will be awarded $1500 to travel to the Australia and New Zealand Three-Minute Thesis Competition where they will represent the University of Sydney.
• Two runner-up prizes of $500 each.

Rules – the fine print!

Eligibility
You must be currently enrolled or under examination (as at day of the University of Sydney finals) in a postgraduate research degree at the University of Sydney. Enrolment can be on a full-time or part-time basis.

Your 3 Minute Presentation

• Only a single static PowerPoint slide can be used during the presentation.
• No animations, transitions, or embedded dynamic media (such as sound or video, etc) are allowed.
• No additional props or instruments are allowed.
• Presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum. Competitors exceeding 3 minutes will be disqualified.

Judging Criteria

The adjudicating panel will normally consist of at least three people, who may be members of academic staff, representatives of the SUPRA, or external guests. The judges score each presentation out of ten for each of the three following criteria:

1. Communication style: was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
2. Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience understand the research? (Consider communication clarity - the quality of expression, the structure of delivery, i.e. intro, body and conclusion)
3. Engagement: did the oration make the judges want to know more?

Scores will be tallied as a judging tool, but the winner shall be based on a panel consensus.